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“Red Out” Event Will Remember John Chapman

Galesburg High School and the Genesis Foundation will host a “Red Out’’ heart education event on Tuesday, Jan. 16 to recognize the memory of John Chapman.

John Chapman was a former Galesburg High School wrestler and coach who died of sudden cardiac arrest while running the Quad-City Times Bix 7 in 2011. Chapman had an undiagnosed heart blockage.

The “Red Out’’ at the Galesburg triple dual wrestling meet on Jan. 16 will include free blood pressure screenings and information about learning hands-only CPR.

Since her son’s death, Rosemary “Chappy’’ Chapman has turned her hobby, knitting, into an effort to support education and early diagnosis of heart disease at Genesis Health System, Davenport.

Johnny’s Socks are heart-themed knit sock kits. The socks have several heart design elements, including artery bands representing open and occluded arteries, two healthy hearts and one “broken’’ heart, an EKG line, and young healthy hearts. A portion of proceeds from the sock kits go to the Genesis Foundation.

At the ”Red Out’’ wrestling triple dual, blood pressure checks and information about hands-only CPR will be available.

Hands-only CPR takes only minutes to learn and could save lives. Unlike traditional CPR, rescue breaths are not required. Hands-only CPR has been found to be effective on certain patients with cardiac arrest when started immediately.

“The Chapman family has turned a tragic loss into something positive that might help others from suffering the same type of loss,’’ said Missy Gowey, executive director, Genesis Foundation. “We hope people will come out to support the wrestlers but also to support the Chapmans and what they have done already and will continue to do in the future to educate the public about heart disease.’’

Genesis and Medic Emergency Medical Services, Davenport use a hands-only CPR training video featuring actor-comedian and doctor Ken Jeong, M.D., courtesy of the American Heart Association. You can watch the hands-only training video at http://tinyurl.com/zjc9bs6.###